But I'm Not Ready To Say Goodnight
by AsgardsValkyrie
Summary: Sequel to "Our Eyes Fighting The Light". While Kevin's off enjoying some alone time with his Serpent boyfriend, Veronica finds herself entangled in Jason's Blossom's murder.


**Chapter One**

* * *

Veronica lay in her bed, fingers gliding along the smooth, cool screen of her phone. Kevin's call had been much appreciated, despite his unwillingness to come back to Riverdale. When he and Joaquin had disappeared from Mustang's motel room, she had to admit that she and the others had not really put much thought into where they would be going, although they certainly never thought that Kevin would skip town with his Serpent boyfriend.

Betty had called Sheriff Keller to alert him to Mustang's death, and it was only when the sheriff had asked about Kevin that she, Betty, Archie, and Jughead had realized that they hadn't heard from Kevin in quite some time. Betty had been in a panic after dozens of calls and texts went unanswered. The entire gang, including Kevin's dad, had sent texts, left voicemails, and each time there was no response. Sheriff Keller had been on the verge of hysteria, and Veronica couldn't really blame him. With everything that was going on in this town, it wasn't difficult to understand why Sheriff Keller had made the assumption that Kevin's disappearance would soon turn out just like the case of Jason Blossom.

 _Speaking of Jason Blossom,_ Veronica thought. _His case still hasn't been solved, and the Blossoms look like they're about to do something disastrous._

The Blossoms had practically been frothing at the mouth when Sheriff Keller told them that Mustang's death was almost positively connected to Jason's murder. Penelope and Clifford demanded answers, wanted every member of the Southside Serpents strung up by their toes, their heads on spikes. Cheryl had been equally livid but somehow managed to be calmer than her parents. Mustang's death had also affected Polly, the mother of Jason's unborn children.

Veronica remembered when Betty told her about the Copper and Blossom familial relations. Veronica had nearly thrown up but managed to keep a straight, supportive face. She knew that it wasn't Polly's intentions to get pregnant with incestuous babies. After all, she hadn't known about the Copper and Blossom blood relations until after she was heavily pregnant and after Jason was murdered. And, as gross as it was to Veronica, she knew that the fact of incest wasn't enough to make Polly want to get rid of her babies. Polly had, after all, been in love with Jason, and that was real to her, despite the...darker undertones that the Coopers and Blossom's had fought so hard to hide.

In hindsight, this entire situation could have been avoided if the Coopers and Blossoms stopped keeping so many damn secrets and just let their children know the truth from the start. But of course, something that the Coopers and Blossoms had in common was their self righteous belief in their own actions and reasonings.

Really, though, she was glad that Kevin had managed to get away from Riverdale's drama. Although she liked a good mystery as much as the next girl, there was only so much she could take. When she and her mom had moved to Riverdale, it was with the idea that it would be a fresh start for them after her father's criminal activities; she never expected to be helping Riverdale's very own Nancy Drew solve a homicide. However, Kevin was with Joaquin, and although she didn't know Kevin or Joaquin very well, she did know that Joaquin was a criminal, and while she could not judge -especially with her father being where he is- she was worried that Kevin might be in over his head.

From what Veronica could tell, Kevin was the only gay guy out at Riverdale, so he must have been lonely, and it must have been even more difficult to have to take Betty to dances because Archie, her previous crush, was too busy screwing his music teacher to realize that his childhood best friend was in love with him. Maybe Joaquin would be good for him...

Groaning, Veronica rolled over to her bedside table and plugged her phone into the charger and turned the light off, plunging the bedroom into darkness. She burrowed under her blankets and slipped the sleep mask over her forehead, not yet pulling it down over her eyes.

Staring into the darkness of her room, the window providing small slivers of moonlight along the opposite wall, she wondered what she was supposed to tell Sheriff Keller.

She could come up with a lie no problem, it couldn't be that hard to pull some bullshit ass excuse out of her ass on the fly, but the problem was Betty. Sheriff Keller and Betty had known each other for quite some time, probably since Betty and Kevin's childhood, and if either Betty or Sheriff Keller asked the other if they heard anything from Kevin, and Veronica's lie came up, that would be the end of it. Heaving a heavy sigh, Veronica pulled the sleep mask over her eyes and let her head thump against the pillow.

Tomorrow was going to be a long day.

* * *

Veronica's black heels clicked against the halls of Riverdale High School. She was hoping that she would have a bit more time to come up with something believable to tell Kevin's dad but when she arrived at school that morning she saw Sheriff Keller walking inside, no doubt trying to see if Kevin showed up for school. Taking a deep breath, she walked on, head held high. If she acted like nothing was wrong, then no one would think anything was wrong.

All she had to do was tell the sheriff that his son was okay, not in a river somewhere with a bullet in his head, and that should be the end of it. She hoped.

"Sheriff Keller!" she called out to him, looking over her shoulder to make sure Betty wasn't around. "Can I talk to you for a minute?"

He agreed, and she pulled him into a classroom, shutting the door behind her. She pulled down the blinds that were above the door's window, providing them with some privacy. Her heart was pounding, and it was annoying. Why was she getting so worked up over a lie? If Sheriff Keller caught her in the lie, it wasn't like he could toss her in jail! Kevin wasn't kidnapped and his disappearance had nothing to do with a police investigation, so it wasn't like she could get into actual trouble for attempting to cover Kevin's ass.

Sheriff Keller leaned against the teacher's desk, arms crossed. "What can I do for you, Miss Lodge?"

"I understand that having us call you for Mustang's death was a bit of a shock," she began. "And I know we should not be getting involved in an active police investigation, I completely agree! However, that is not what I wanted to talk to you about." She took a few steps closer, just three feet apart from him now. "I have information on Kevin."

"What?" he surged forward. "Did he call you? What did he say?"

"He did not call me," Veronica said. "I was nervous yesterday when you asked us if we knew anything, and I feel bad betraying Kevin's trust like this, but I can see that you're really worried about him. Yesterday, Kevin pulled me aside and said that he needed some time to himself. He wanted to get out of Riverdale, and after finding Mustang's body...I think that it was just too much for him. He did find Jason's body, too, and I think he's really traumatized over it."

Sheriff Keller looked like he was believing it, and so she plowed on.

"He's been stressed lately. He hasn't said it straight out, but he's a little hurt that Betty no longer hangs out with him as much as she used to, and that's partially my fault. I didn't intend to intrude on their relationship, and I told Kevin as such, but he was adamant on getting out of Riverdale for a while. I think it will be good for him though. Some distance will help him clear his head, get back on track."

Keller rubbed a hand over his face, his body draining of the tension.  
"Is...do you know where he is?"

"He didn't say where he was going," Veronica said apologetically. "But he is safe, I can assure you of that. And I don't think he went very far. He did say that he was coming back soon, perhaps in a few days, maybe a week at the most."

"I," Keller looked like he was going to hug her. "I can't thank you enough, Veronica. I thought-"

"That Kevin was going to be the next Jason Blossom?" Keller nodded. "I understand, and that's why I had to confess. I'm sure Kevin didn't mean to worry you so much, he's just going through some things right now, and some of those things I don't think you or I can understand. He loves you very much, talks about you all the time."

This makes Sheriff Keller smile.

"Thank you," he sighed. "I'm still worried, I always am when he's not in my line of sight, but..."

"Listen," Veronica said gently, putting a hand on his arm. She smiled comfortingly. "How about this? You do your job and find out who else was involved in Jason's murder, and I will keep you updated with Kevin, okay?"

He nodded gratefully, glad to have someone else besides himself looking out for his son. He squeezed Veronica's hand once before heading towards the door. The door was almost open when Veronica suddenly darted across the floor and pushed it closed again.

"And can you do Kevin and I a huge favor?" Veronica flashed her winning smile. "He doesn't want Betty to know, so if you could..."

The sheriff smiled. "I won't say a word."

Veronica stepped aside to let him leave, noticing that he looked much better now that he didn't have to worry about his son turning up dead in a ditch somewhere. Veronica waited a few moments before exiting the classroom herself, quietly pulling the door shut behind her. That had gone surprisingly well. Now, all she had to do was hope that Keller kept his mouth shut, and evade Betty's questions.

Putting on a smile, Veronica headed off to her first class, content that the hardest part of the day was now over.

* * *

Veronica was wrong. Telling Sheriff Keller about Kevin's need for space was a lot easier than what she was going through now. Betty Cooper, her bestie, was sitting across from her in the cafeteria, mouth running a mile a minute as she came up with theory after theory of where Kevin was, why he left, and why Sheriff Keller was at the school this morning. Veronica knew that Betty had good intentions, but after what she told Sheriff Keller earlier, she was starting to see the truth in her words.

Ever since Veronica had come to Riverdale, Kevin Keller, who Veronica had learned was one of Betty's closest friends, was shoved out of the picture, made into a background character, and Betty had done nothing to stop it, nor did she seem particularly bothered by Kevin's absence. Veronica wasn't blaming Betty, but shouldn't Betty have realized how hurt her friend was instead of putting all her attention on a homicide that should be handled by the police, not a bunch of high school kids?

"Betty, darling," Veronica said, pressing her fingers together. "Please stop with the conspiracies."

"First Jason, and now Kevin!" Betty persisted. "We have to figure out where Kevin-"

"Maybe he told you where he was going and you just weren't listening," Veronica blurted out before she could stop herself. Betty's mouth shut with an audible click, her face twisting into a hurt expression. Veronica sighed and murmured, "B, not trying to be a bitch here, but...when was the last time you called Kevin, his recently disappearance notwithstanding, or hung out with him? Just the two of you?"

Betty's eyes flicked to the side as she tried to recall, and her cheeks flushed, because she couldn't remember.

"Exactly. Look, I know you probably didn't mean to, but...you kind of replaced Kevin and put me in his spot. And it's not that I don't love being your friend, because I do, it's just that you can't pull all these theories out your ass about Kevin when you haven't been there for him to even know what was wrong. Kevin's too nice to say anything about how he felt, so maybe he left to get some space. I am, after all, encroaching on his territory. And you haven't done much to prevent it."

Betty lowered her head, ashamed. "That's why he isn't answering my calls," she whispered. "I'm such a horrible friend! I can't believe I shoved him to the side like that!"

"I'm sure he knows that you didn't mean it," Veronica assured her. "Maybe he just needed to get away from it all. River dale has become quite the hotspot for the deviant and dangerous to play."

"And with Joaquin...," Betty's head flew up. "Wait, do you think Kevin is with Joaquin?"

"That wouldn't be very smart," Veronica replied. "Joaquin is a suspect in Jason's murder, and Kevin can't exactly travel with him. Besides, Kevin and Joaquin probably broke up after they left Mustang's motel room. That was an awful day, by the way. When I came to Riverdale, I was not expecting so many dead bodies."

"I've lived here my whole life and this entire thing is making my head spin," Betty huffed. "I feel like everyone is falling apart at the seams here, V! Archie's still reeling from his post-Grundy trauma, which he won't even acknowledge as rape despite the fact that she's a grown woman and he isn't even legal; Jughead's dad has been framed for Jason's murder, and Jughead is going to live in a foster home because his mom is too crappy of a mother to come pick him up; Polly is pregnant with Jason Blossom's babies, who we recently found out was our blood relative; Cheryl's been on a downward spiral since July and it's only gotten worse since FP was arrested; and your dad might be coming back to rain even more hellfire down on the poor, unsuspecting citizens of Riverdale. No offense, V."

"None taken. Betty, you look like you're about to collapse. After school today, you are going to go home and sleep for twelve hours. You, Nancy Drew, have earned it! Understood?"

Betty nods reluctantly.

"Good," Veronica smiles. "I know everything is crazy right now, but we have to keep moving forward. We've hit a bump in Jason's case, which we aren't even supposed to be working because we are not, you know, the police, but we will find something. FP may have played a part in covering up a murder, but he sure as hell didn't commit one, and that's what we have to prove. We will figure this out. I promise."

* * *

Veronica's phone vibrated in her bag as she was getting changed for cheerleading practice. Yesterday, after escorting Betty home and making sure she went to bed, Veronica had gone home to stew in her own problems. Her father's incarceration was causing major issues with her mother, and she had had to lock herself in her room all night to avoid her mother's badgering. It wasn't that she didn't want her father to come home. At first, she really, really did. But she couldn't just ignore all the bad things that he had done like her mother seemed content on doing.

Today had been yet another long day. She'd run into Sheriff Keller in town last night. He had offered her a ride home, and Veronica was eternally grateful that Betty was out of sight in her own house. She did not need Betty asking questions that she couldn't give the answer to. Sheriff Keller was also eternally grateful that she had given him news on Kevin, and Veronica found that every time she opened her mouth, lying came just a bit easier.

She pointedly ignored the buzzing, glad that it wasn't very noticeable above the sound of the other's girls talking, their voices echoing off the locker room walls. After a while, the buzzing cut off. Resisting the urge to check her phone, Veronica waited until the girls slowly filtered out of the locker room, Betty lingering behind to look back at her.

"V, you coming?"

"Yeah, I'll catch up." A reassuring smile sent Betty on her way, and Veronica waited a few moments to make sure she was gone before rummaging through her bag. The phone showed that The Snake Charmer had called. She dialed back.

 _"When you said you wanted me to call you, I was assuming you'd pick up right away,"_ Kevin snarked.

"Oh, quiet, you deviant," Veronica smiled. "I had to wait until the locker room cleared out. Just because you're AWOL doesn't mean my life stops, as heartbreaking as that may be to you."

 _"I'm wounded, really,"_ Kevin drawled. _"As riveting as your life is, that isn't why I called."_

Veronica gasped. "Have you and your beau finally knocked boots? Tell me everything. Well, the abridged version right now, and then everything later."

 _"I might know how to get FP out of jail. Or, at least, a lesser sentence."_

Veronica paused, the shoelaces she had been tying falling from her hand and clattering against the wooden benches. Had she heard that right?

"What are you talking about?" Veronica whispered.

 _"Joaquin told me that he and FP had a safety net to ensure they wouldn't get convicted over Jason's death, only now that safety net has some holes, seeing as how FP is already in jail and has already been charged."_

"Oh my god," Veronica hissed. "What is it? Don't keep me in suspense!"

 _"Joaquin said that Jason and Polly had a car stowed away on the other side of the river. It has Jason's money, the engagement ring, and a flash drive with a video of who really killed Jason."_

"Holy shit," Veronica breathed, sliding down off the bench onto the floor. "Holy _shit_!"

 _"I know! Veronica, you need to get that flash drive to my dad. It's the only way to clear FP's name, as least partially, and I would feel so much better knowing that Riverdale was down one murderer."_

"How do I explain that him?" she demanded. "I can't exactly say that you gave me that information! Then he'd want to know how you got it!"

On the line, she could hear Kevin groan, the implications having hit him that he couldn't tell his dad why he really left Riverdale, not without throwing Joaquin's name into the mix.

 _"I had not thought about that,"_ Kevin admitted. _"I just thought I'd heroically slide you some information and then you'd swerve in to the police station in your Rolls Royce, your hair dramatically fluttering behind you in the wind as you held the flash drive high. "_

"Wait," Veronica said. "What if I tell him that your ex-boyfriend owed you a favor, and out of his love for you, he gave up some very useful information in a desperate attempt to win you back?"

 _"That could work, even though that sounds like the plot of a very crappy Lifetime movie,"_ Kevin said slowly. _"But what if he wants to speak with Joaquin?"_

"Listen...you guys might have to come back for this to work." When Kevin began to protest, she pushed on. "I know you're happy over there, with your sexy bad boy, but, honestly, FP's life is at risk, and I know he covered up Jason's murder, but he didn't actually kill the guy! And, really, I think the Blossom's would much rather have the guy who actually killed Jason behind bars than the guy that mopped up the blood. If FP is innocent, then he could at least get a lesser sentence, and it would make Jughead's day." Kevin didn't answer right away, and if she couldn't hear him breathing, she would have assumed he'd hung up. "Don't make a decision now, but by tomorrow night, I expect an answer. Okay?"

 _"Okay,"_ Kevin agreed quietly. _"Have fun at cheerleading practice. And don't forget to delete this call from your phone."_

"I am not in idiot, you know," Veronica said. The line disconnected, and Veronica deleted the call from the call log, shut off her cell phone and put it back inside her purse, and put her purse inside her locker, clicking the lock closed. Taking a deep breath, she rolled her shoulders and left the locker room, reading for whatever Cheryl could throw at her.

As the door thudded shut, Cheryl peered out from around the corner of the lockers, a towel clutched tightly in her fist.

* * *

"A word, Veronica."

Cheryl's command came at the end of practice, as the girls were finishing up their stretches. Cheryl had worked them extra hard that practice, her voice barking at them to do as they were told, when they were told. A strange sense of foreboding filled Veronica's stomach as she was singled out. Betty threw her a look, her brow furrowed in concern. Betty tried to linger behind but one glare from Cheryl was all it took for the youngest Cooper to slide out of the gym, throwing one last worrying glance over her shoulder.

Veronica shifted her weight onto one foot, swinging the other, the tip of her shoe scuffing against the gym floor. Cheryl stand at her in silence for what seemed like hours before finally saying, "I wanted to ask if you and the North's side very own Scooby Gang had any leads on Jason's case."

Veronica thanked her lucky stars that she grew up a Lodge and knew how to maintain a very good poker face. Cheryl's question came out of left field, and Veronica couldn't afford to give anything away, especially not with her current social and financial standing. She and her mother were still pretty well off, however majority of their assets had been frozen when her father was arrested, and she didn't think her mother would appreciate having the Blossoms breathing down their necks about their dead son. Her mother also wouldn't appreciate it if Veronica told Penelope and Clifford Blossom to go fuck themselves.

"I wasn't aware you knew about our involvement," Veronica said casually.

"Betty Cooper has always been a nosy bitch," Cheryl stated, crossing her arms over her chest. Veronica glared at her, and a red eyebrow arched up on Cheryl's forehead. "My brother's death is, obviously, too tempting of a mystery for Nancy Drew to pass up, and so no doubt she's putting her nose where it most certainly does not belong. However, I have noticed that Betty and her...associates have a tendency to find information faster than the sheriff does."

"Well, nothing solid yet," Veronica replied, resisting the urge to remind Cheryl that Nancy Drew was most definitely not a member of the Scooby Gang. She figured that now was just not the time. "We kind of have to work under the radar, since technically we aren't even supposed to know so much about the case, and we shouldn't even be conducting our own investigation. I was all down for letting Sheriff Keller handle this, but I couldn't let Betty scour the dark depths of Riverdale alone. She and her iconic ponytail would be torn to shreds."

"I see," Cheryl's voice dropped to a low drawl. "Well, that was all. You will let me know if something more solid comes across your radar?"

"I promise," Veronica said. "You'll be the first to know."

Veronica was dismissed, and as she quickly left the gym, Cheryl's eyes narrowing, burning a hole in the young Lodge's back.

* * *

"Veronica."

Her mother's voice startles Veronica out of her thoughts, nearly knocking over her mug of sleepy time tea, the steam curling up and disappearing into the air. Hermione Lodge gripped the back of the chair from across the table, her long hair cascading in dark waves down her back.

"Sorry," Veronica sighed, rubbing her eyes. She removed her glasses and set them down next to her tea, closing the books she had opened in front of her. She was attempting to do some reading for class, try to get ahead and find something to keep her distracted from Kevin's phone class early that day. Finding out that FP's fate rested on the shoulders of a scorned gang member wasn't exactly reassuring, and with Joaquin off frolicking with the sheriff's son, he might see fit to never say anything to help FP, especially since the leader of the Serpents played a very prominent role in he and Kevin's relationship.

"You aren't going to get anything done tonight," her mother said gently. "Why don't you go off to bed?"

Her mother began to walk away, presumably towards the kitchen to grab a glass of wine, when Veronica called out to her. When her mother turned, the words died on Veronica's tongue. What could she say to her mother? Ever since their move to Riverdale, they had never seen eye to eye, and with her father being involved in many illegal, gang related activities, it was really difficult to understand the blind loyalty her mother seemed to have for the man. Veronica loved her father, she really did, but just because she loved him didn't mean that she wanted him to get of scotch free for the crimes that he partook in. Just because he was a Lodge shouldn't make him absolvable of everything he's done.

"I," Veronica cleared her throat. "If dad comes back, will we be moving back to New York?"

"When," Hermione corrected. "And I'm not sure yet. That hasn't been discussed."

"I'd like to stay here," Veronica explained. "Perhaps you can ask Daddy's lawyer to pass the message along?"

Hermione stared at her for a moment, eyes trying to see into her soul, before she nodded. "Of course."

* * *

Veronica lay in bed that night with a mild headache. When her mom told her that they were going to make a fresh start in a Riverdale, she had expected a boring backwater town that didn't even have a decent mall. She was most certainly not expecting to be investigating a homicide. If she hadn't been friends with Archie and Betty, she would have easily ignored the case and went on her merry way, but it was her friendship with the two Riverdale natives that opened her eyes to how she herself was caught up in Jason's death. Finding out that her father was involved with the Southside Serpents, even from his current place of residence in a prison cell, had been nerve wracking, and extremely disappointing. It seemed like every time she began to forgive her father and entertain the thought of him coming home, she had to go and uncover more damning secrets that only showed just how conniving her parents were.

And it wasn't just Jason's death that was making Veronica's skin crawl. No, it was the way the Lodge family seemed to be exactly where they needed to be at just the right time. With everything that had been going on for the past coupe of weeks, especially within the past couple of days, Veronica had pushed the thoughts to the back of her mind, but now that she was in the solitude of her own bedroom, the walls closing in around her, the thoughts kept pushing their way to the front of her head.

She found it incredibly shady that her mother seemed adamant on moving to Riverdale after her father was arrested. While Veronica could understand her parents wanting to be stationed closer to their business partners, the Serpents, she couldn't understand the behavior her mother was exhibiting. For one, her mother's relationship with Fred Andrews. Seeing them together and knowing how her mother was made Veronica's stomach twist. Hermione Lodge moseying into Fred Andrew's good graces was a blatant sign of manipulation and ulterior motives, but Veronica, unable to prove this, kept her mouth shut and watched from the sidelines as poor Mr. Andrews was played. As far as Veronica knew, her mother and father weren't even separated, just temporarily living in different buildings, and after spending time with Mr. Andrews, she began to feel immesenly guilty for what was no doubt a big storm coming.

Sometime that Riverdale had made her do was take the rose colored glasses off and become aware of just how many honey pots her father had his fingers in. It was definitely a rude awakening, to have her mental image of her father tarnished as his past transgressions came to light. And no longer could she assume that her mother was an innocent bystander. No, from the way she was cozying up to Mr. Andrews - going as far to date the man- it was obvious that she too had something riding on Mr. Andrews compliance and ignorance.

Veronica wanted to tell Archie, wanted to tell the red headed boy to keep an eye on his father. Mr. Andrews was lonely, yes, but he could find better company than Hermione Lodge, who only seemed to show interest in him once her criminal husband was behind bars and unable to run the show from the front lines.

Heaving a sigh, Veronica pulled down her sleep mask, enveloping her world in darkness. She couldn't continue thinking about this. It was important, but first she needed to see what Joaquin decided. Kevin was supposed to call her tomorrow to let her know the news, and Veronica wasn't sure what she'd do if she had to look Cheryl in the eye again and say that no new developments were found. Veronica had a strong feeling that maybe Cheryl had overheard her in the locker room, why else would she have called out to her after practice?

"I can't wait until this shit is over," Veronica grumbled to herself before rolling over, burrowing deeper into her covers.


End file.
